Maurice And Me

Having just graduated from the University of Oregon School of Journalism as a redshirt senior, I departed Eugene in early 1977 for a seasonal job working as a forestry technician on the Lake Wenatchee Ranger District of the Wenatchee National Forest. Then, the unexpected happened.

My beloved Portland Trailblazers won the NBA championship behind Bill Walton, former UCLA Bruin, and a group of refugees from the American Basketball Association, including Dave Twardzik and a Marquette University graduate, Maurice Lucas. The two leagues had merged the previous year.

Maurice was known far and wide as the "Enforcer,” the sergeant-at-arms of that underdog Portland team that clawed its way to the NBA championship, matching up with the mighty Philadelphia 76ers featuring Julius Erving, AKA Dr. J., George McGinnis, Doug Collins and other top-flight players.

After dropping the first two games, the Blazers, under the leadership of Walton and Lucas, stuffed the Sixers by winning the next four in a row after an altercation between Lucas and Darryl Dawkins, a man-child behemoth playing for Philadelphia. The Blazers returned to Portland for a parade among elated fans.

That championship for the Blazers remains the only one in team history. Unfortunately, Walton would suffer a knee injury, and the team would not recover, despite a terrific start to the next season. They came close the 1990s under the leadership of Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter, and later, Arvydas Sabonis and Brian Grant.

Fast forward to the early 1990s, when Lucas worked as a consultant for a firm that had developed a unique-for-that-time survey technology.

Lucas agreed to come to EWEB for a media conference in the lobby. Eagerly accepting his offer, a press gathering was slated.

Lunching afterward with Lucas at The Excelsior near the UO campus, I learned about our common background receiving our education from the academics from the Society of Jesus, he at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and me at Jesuit High School in Beaverton, Oregon. All in all, a very successful day; the local media got their story, EWEB employees in attendance were thrilled.

Lucas would go on to serve as an assistant coach for the Blazers, and was a beloved figure among players, staff members and fans alike. The team had already retired his jersey, number 20, and he was named to the all-time all-ABA team along with Julius Erving and other American Basketball Association greats.

Lucas’ son, David Lucas, played his college hoops for the Oregon State University Beavers from 2001-2005 and Luke Walton, son of the Enforcer's teammate and Hall of Famer Bill Walton, is named after Lucas. He underwent surgery for gall bladder cancer in 2009 and died in 2010 in the City of Roses.

Fans have high hopes for this year’s version of the Portland Trailblazers after they reached the Western Conference finals last spring. Picked to finish second in the Northwest Division, the team is led by all-star Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum and the team hopes to exceed last year’s accomplishments. Go Blazers!